


Ryncol and Shore Leave

by EpsilonBeta



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-14
Updated: 2013-12-16
Packaged: 2018-01-04 14:39:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1082188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EpsilonBeta/pseuds/EpsilonBeta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Or “You can learn a lot about a woman by getting smashed with her.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ryncol As A Catalyst

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pixelatrix](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelatrix/gifts).



> Merry frickin' xmas.

Pounding rhythm filled Zaeed's ears as he walked in to Chora's Den. Walking up to the bar, he scanned the room for familiar faces and threats alike. It was only once he'd ordered a glass of whiskey, handed over a credit chit and turned his back to the bar that he noticed Shepard sitting at a table with a lithe young asari writhing about on the table in front of her.

Zaeed swallowed his shock, then mentally cursed himself for being so goddamn oblivious. It was obvious, now, the way her eyes would occasionally follow as an attractive woman walked past. It simply hadn't occurred to him that she'd be anything other than heterosexual, not that there was anything wrong with it. He shrugged internally, then watched as Shepard leaned forward, her long dark hair falling about her face as she said something to the asari, prompting the alien to blush a pretty shade of purple under the club lights and giggle coquettishly.  
  
The asari leaned forward, crawling across the table and – _holy shit, she was practically in_ _the damn girl_ _'s lap at this point –_ whispered something in Shepard's ear. Whatever it was caused Shepard to laugh, he could tell from the way her tits bounced softly.  
  
 _G_ _et a fucking grip Massani,_ _you do not need to be thinking about nailing Shepard. I know you're fucking grateful for the assist with Vido, the bastard, but this is_ not _the fucking time._  
  
While Zaeed was distracted with his internal monologue, Shepard exchanged contact details with the young asari, downed her drink and stalked towards the bar. She was next to Zaeed before he'd even noticed she'd moved, ordering her fourth double-shot of something green and looking firmly on her way towards drunk.  
  
“What's cookin', good lookin'?” She grinned, bumping her hip against his.  
  
 _Right. That's fucking odd,_ he thought.

“Is Zaeed Massani, big bad merc, out on the pull tonight then?”

“What the fuck are you drinking, Shepard?” He asked, one eyebrow raised. “Whatever it is, I think I fucking need some.”

Shepard took a gulp, shuddered a little against the burn in her throad and looked up at him with wide bambi-eyes. “Ryncol.”

“Fucking _ryncol_? How the fuck are you still standing?”

Shepard shrugged and looked at him blankly before a look of pure mischief flashed across her features and she giggled. _Fucking hell, Shepard giggles?_ Zaeed thought, frowning at the younger woman. Her giggles grew louder as he stood there staring at her, until finally leaning against the bar was all that was keeping her upright.  
  
“ _What?_ ” He snapped, eventually.

“Ryncol. Krogan drink. Garrus said Krogan women like scars. In theory, I should have been on my ass after half a shot of this shit. Must be the cybernetics. Anyhow,” She paused, leaning over to whisper in his ear. “ _I think your scars are kinda hot. Funny, right?_ ”

“I think you've had way too much to fucking drink, girl.” He replied with a wry smile.  
  
“Gonna take me home, old man?”  
  
“Less of the old.” Zaeed downed what was left of his whiskey, depositing the empty glass on the bar. “Let's get you back to your ship.”

“Yes, _sir._ ” Shepard purred. She made a high-pitched, squeaking noise when Zaeed quickly spun her towards the exit, placed a hand on the small of her back and propelled her out of the bar. “Someone's being forceful,” she snarked. “ _I like it._ ”

Zaeed rolled his eyes, quite amused by the Commander who obviously needed to blow off some steam. Drily, he quipped “Why don't you proposition that turian friend of yours if you're into 'forceful'? I hear they like it rough.”

“What, _Garrus?_ ” She replied incredulously, craning her head to check if the merc was serious. “He sees everything in black and white, you know? And I am _all_ about the shades of grey.”

“I'd noticed.” Zaeed muttered.  
  
“Saw Aleena's little show then?” Shepard chuckled. “Pretty little thing, isn't she? Just a bit naïve for me. Were you thinking about her and me, Massani?”  
  
“Not quite any of your business, Shepard.”  
  
“If you're thinking about me buck-naked and fucking another woman, asari, whatever... I kind of think it is.”  
  
Shepard chose that moment to pull Zaeed into an alleyway and press him against the wall. Zaeed toyed with stopping her, for a moment, but his curiosity won out. She put her hands on his shoulders and leaned up on her tiptoes, momentarily losing her height disadvantage, and pressed her lips softly against his, flicking her tongue out to taste the remnants of whiskey on him. Her hand moved to cup the back of his head so she could lean in further and run her tongue around the outer shell of his ear. “Do you often think about me naked, Zaeed?” She teased.  
  
Zaeed's hands went to grip her hips firmly and pull her down, away from him. Her hold on the back of his head, however, didn't quite let up, so they stumbled into the opposite wall, Shepard hooking one leg around the back of his. He gave into temptation for a moment, letting his hand run down the inside of her hip and across her upper thigh. He kissed her firmly, tongue teasing hers as he pressed her harder into the wall and she all but climbed up him, the leg that was formerly wrapped around his calf somewhere up by his thigh. He noted the coolness of her tongue as he tasted her, her drunken, aroused state prompting her to breathe through her mouth more.  
  
Reluctantly, he parted them and pressed his forehead against hers. “Not here. Not like this.” He muttered. “When you're sober, fine, but I'm not fucking you when you're drunk.”  
  
Shepard groaned and let her head fall back to the wall, it connecting a bit more forcefully than she'd intended. “Ow. Fuck.” She complained, rubbing the back of her skull. “Fine. I'll be sober in an hour anyway. Let's get back to the ship, I can have a shower, and we can try this again, if you want? Feel free to say no, Zaeed.”  
  
“Come the fuck on.” He planted a gentle kiss on her hair, grabbed her by the hand, and guided her back to the ship.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is probably awful and full of trashy erotica cliches but hey, here it is.

Shepard pulled Zaeed to a halt by the airlock, removing her hand from his grasp and wrapping her arms around herself to guard against the slight chill of the artificial breeze on the docking arm. “One last chance to back out, Massani.”

“Sober already?” 

“Close enough. Being half-robot-zombie does wonders for your alcohol processing abilities.”

“Remind me to try it sometime.” he smirked, is expression turning serious. “You sure about this as well? Not that I'm not a fan of getting spaced for fucking my CO while she's hammered, of course.” 

“Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Besides, I'd only throw you out of the airlock if you weren't any good, you know me.” Shepard laughed, pulling Zaeed close by the front of his armour and pressing her lips against his. 

“Well, I've not had any complaints, at least.” He muttered against her mouth as he guided her into the airlock, kissing her deeply as the doors slid shut behind them and the decontamination process began.

By the time the decontamination process completed and the inner airlock doors slid open, Zaeed had Shepard pinned against the wall, her legs wrapped around his waist, one of his hands under her thigh for support, the other around the back of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair. It wasn't long before EDI interrupted politely. “Commander, you have been in the decontamination chamber a full 73 seconds since the decontamination cycle terminated. Do you require assistance?”

Shepard groaned as they separated reluctantly. “No thank you, EDI.” She answered, regaining her footing and willing her legs to work. 

While Shepard was trying to compose herself, Zaeed walked out of the airlock, straight through CIC and to the elevator. She was about to follow him when she heard a loud cough from the cockpit that sounded suspiciously like Joker trying to smother his own laughter. Shepard walked into the space between the cockpit and CIC, looked over at Joker, who was obviously struggling to keep a straight face and his mouth shut. 

“Commander.” He greeted.

“Oh, screw you, Jeff.” She said goodnaturedly, smoothing her hair out.

“No thanks, Commander, Zaeed seems to have that situation under control.” He quipped, a self-satisfied grin on his face as he spun his chair back around to face the pilot's console. 

Shepard rolled her eyes and continued on through CIC towards the elevator. She stepped into the empty metal box when it opened, and rode it up to the loft. 

Her cabin was empty, so she peeled off her clothes and padded naked to the shower, grateful for the hot water to wash away the evening. She washed and rinsed her hair, then applied conditioner to soak in while she cleaned the rest of her body. As she rinsed her hair out again, she thought she heard the elevator grind to a halt outside and her cabin door slide open. After wringing out her hair, she wrapped a towel around herself and stuck her head out of the bathroom door.

“Hang on a minute, I'll be out in a minute, I just need to -” She began, her voice abandoning her when she spotted Zaeed standing outside, shirtless, with a bottle of whiskey in his hand, a lopsided smile across his lips.

“Shepard.” He said.

“Zaeed! I... I wasn't expecting you... Uhm.... Do you want to join me?”

Zaeed smirked and placed the bottle on Shepard's desk. He made quick work of removing his boots, then he unbuttoned his trousers at the waist, sliding them down his hips along with his underwear. Shepard's mouth went dry as she took in the sight of him naked. Her mind instantly strayed to the idea of tracing the numerous tattoos and scars with her tongue.

Silently, he reached out and peeled the towel away from her body. He pushed until she backed up into the warm spray of the shower. She spluttered momentarily as she caught a faceful of the warm water. 

Zaeed laughed richly as she reached for a towel to get the water out of her eyes. Her movement made it easy for Zaeed to grab her and pin her against the wall. Shepard rested her forehead on the cool metal while his strong fingers traced a path down her spine, brushing over the curve of her ass, then trailing back up to tease and tweak her nipples. A breathy sigh escaped her lips when Zaeed leaned in close and kissed the back of her shoulder. The faint scrape of stubble as he moved up and over the sensitive skin of her neck ignited something in her.

Shepard braced her hands against the wall and pushed her ass out. She heard him groan as he slid across her ass and between her thighs. He wrapped his arms around her waist while she braced herself against the wall with one hand. She moved the other down to position him at her entrance, gasping as he pushed inside.

He continued to kiss, suck and nibble her neck and shoulder as he fucked her. He squeezed and stroked her breasts, his touch often straying down her abdomen, but never touching exactly where she wanted. Eventually his fingers strayed down between her thighs, to the place where they joined, gathering up her moisture to lubricate as he softly began tracing circles around her clit. She sagged against the wall for a moment as she struggled to keep her legs straight and supportive underneath her. She was shaking and gasping in his arms by the time he pinched it firmly between his thumb and forefinger and allowed the motion of his thrusts to control the movement of his hand. 

He changed his angle ever so slightly so he was hitting that spot inside her. The tell tale clench of her walls around him began, driving him to fuck her faster, harder, until eventually she unravelled, crying out and shuddering in his arms. Her release triggered his, tensing for a moment as his world imploded, then carrying them both through the aftershocks. 

Eventually they both separated, exhausted and sated, and cleaned each other. Zaeed dried Shepard gently, more carefully than she'd have thought he'd be capable of. His gaze was intense on her skin as he seemed to mentally catalogue her scars, from the little lines all over that glowed red with the cybernetics beneath, to the giant acid burn across her back, to the bullet wound, puckered and ugly, just below her right shoulder. 

Once they were both ready and Shepard's hair was only a little damp, she guided him across to the bed and snuggled against him under the covers.

“I'll admit, I wouldn't have pegged you for the cuddly type, Massani.” She muttered sleepily, stifling a yawn against the back of her hand. 

“Yeah, well, have you seen that shitty little cot I've got down in the cargo bay?” He chuckled, placing a kiss against her hair. 

He wanted to see if she had some sort of playful comeback, but when he cast his eyes down, he noticed her eyes were closed and her breathing had deepened. He sighed and leaned back into the pillow, letting himself relax and hoping sleep would come for him as well.


End file.
